A MUST SEE! The Jackie Clarke Collection is an absolute hidden gem in Ballina. A perfect way to…read morespend your afternoon. I could not recommend it higher! They put a lot of thought into this collection and it is amazing to see the historical significance in each letter, picture, map, etc. they hold in this exclusive collection. It is interesting for tourists to see the history of Ireland unfold in each room of the collection. It is also of interest to the locals with the collection of maps which show how the county boarders have changed overtime. It is well worth the trip to beautiful town of Ballina to check it out. And if this collection isn't already enough to grab your attention, the collection is actually hosted in an old bank! The bank's old vault is now home to one of the rare original copies of the Proclimation of the Irish Republic printed before the 1916 rising. The good news is you don't need to know much Irish history to enjoy The Jackie Clarke Collection.

This is a gem of a place - and while it has a good little museum/ heritage facility, the…read morerestaurant/cafe is a big attraction with good selection of fresh food, a gift shop, library and internet cafe, it does great Irish music and dance performances and has meeting rooms and public services upstairs.

My sister and I were driving up to Silgo and decided to take a scenic drive around the lake on our…read moreway up. We were touristing, and I was delighted when we happened upon this tourist spot. It's really cool. They offer tours or just free roaming exploration of the grounds. We opted to just walk around and look at everything. It was insanely beautiful, like just about everything else in Ireland. Inside is set up like a museum with informative little notes about history on things. The grounds consist of an courtyard and then some fields just off the lake. After we spent some time just looking at everything, we stopped in the gift shop on our way out. I have to say they had the most interesting selection of Ireland post cards and magnet type things that I saw anywhere in the country. I would definitely make sure to come back and I tell anyone I know heading to the West to check it out. It's not an all day type thing but you can definitely make an afternoon of it with the woods just across the lake that are good for a bit of hiking.

This was a wonderful museum. So well done and so personal to the people of the town and the people…read morethat work in the museum. Many artifacts, stories, and historic records of that day in Derry. This was a pick of our guide Henry from Donegal Tour Guide and we're glad he recommended it. If you're interested in the real history of Derry this is a must see.

Absolute highlight of our trip to Derry. I spent part of my childhood in Donegal, but only visited…read moreDerry for the first time recently, for two days. My friend suggested this museum and the accompanying walking tour of the Bogside which was lead by a local Derry man who had lost an uncle to the Troubles. Between us we had 5 children, ages 8-17. The younger children didn't get as much out of the experience but the teens, ages 15 and 17, as well as the five adults were completely riveted by both the museum displays/artifacts and the content and passionate yet objective delivery of the guide on the walking tour. He welcomed questions. He was very patient and informative. Highly recommend. Very reasonable price. Tip the tour guide. Nice little gift shop too and a small snack shop just outside the museum.

What a fascinating place just across from the Guild Hall. We saw three fabulous exhibitions for the…read moreprincely sum of £2.40 each. The first exhibition, the tv comedy Derry Girls - which has taken the world by storm - and even had Ms Chelsea Clinton in a cameo role. And the line 'Protestants don't like Abba' that made me laugh aloud. Oh I've never met anybody who doesn't like ABBA. Exhibition 2 The history of Derry from Stone Age about 10,000 years ago to date including a documentary film. Exhibition 3 An Armada shipwreck with cannon and weapons recovered from the wreckage. It's a few hours to do the exhibitions seriously and the staff, like all the citizens of this scarred city of survivors are so damn friendly and genuinely warm. Of course I recommend it like I recommend staying in this city for at least 3 nights.

Definitely, a must-visit, the Tower Museum is a great attraction just within the historic Derry…read moreWalls where we enjoyed learning about the city's history and panoramic views from the rooftop. The staff was very friendly as we purchased our tickets and made our way through the exhibits, with the main one we saw being "The Story of Derry". We didn't get around to touring the Armada Shipwreck exhibit that's on the second through fourth floors but did make our way to the top floor where we had an open-air panoramic view of the city around us.

On a recent visit to County Mayo, we decided to pay a visit to the Ceide Fields, just outside the…read moretown of Ballycastle. The Ceide Fields are a 5000 years old Neolithic field system, which were discovered in the 1930's by a local man out cutting turf on the bog. In the 1970's and 80's archaeological digs took place which uncovered many of these walls. Ongoing research is taking place. They are to be found outside the town of Ballycastle in the North of County Mayo.There is a visitor centre onsite which has splendid views of the sea and the surrounding landscape. On the day we visited it was not raining (a miracle) which enabled us to take in the magnificent scenery. To get the most from your visit I would advise to wait for the start of the tour. Some people were heading out and catching up with the tour that already had departed. Whilst you are waiting you can view the interesting displays and watch the short film in the visitor centre. We had a wonderful tour guide, who had also worked on the site. He brought the whole story about the find, the archaeological dig and the way of life of Neolithic people , who farmed the land in the area. There is a small cafe in the centre where we had 2 teas and 2 slices of apple pie, though we felt they were overpriced at €12 for what we recieved. Before you leave make sure to visit Belderrig Cliifs below the centre. there is a walkway down to the viewing point.

A fascinating place -- I can recall it vividly even though it's 7 years since we visited! In the…read more1980s archaeologists discovered that the area had been farmed about 5,000 years ago, before the bog formed; this museum explores their discoveries and what life might have been like then, and it does so very well -- it's an excellent museum. The building in which the museum is housed is particularly impressive -- a sort of glass pyramid -- and the way it was set out was captivating. We also enjoyed an interesting tour of the site with a very well-informed guide. The museum is in the middle of nowhere (and the roads to get there are slow, slow, slow), but hey, this is Ireland! The coast-line is spectacular and worth exploring (by car or on foot) in its own right anyway. In short, if you're anywhere near here on holiday, go to Ceide (prounouced Kay-zure, I think) Fields: you won't be disappointed.

We visited before they actually opened on the CIE Scots Irish Tour…read more I liked that our tour guide had worked in the mine. I liked that relatively few folks had died in the mine. I liked that there were things to look at before we went into the mine. I thought the walkways were well lit. I liked that there were dates showing when the support beams were put up and I saw one from this year! I'm a bit claustrophobic, but I stood at the edge of our group and was able to enjoy most of it. There was a nice snack / restaurant area and cute gift shop at the end. ... and one of the folks called in some smoke I saw in an area that wasn't supposed to have smoke.

It's hard to categorize this fine little place. It's in the middle of some beautiful scenery near…read moreLough Allen with big steep but rolling hills. The little museum in interesting but the mine tour, given only by retired miner tour guides was the best part. The tales of the mining days, which ended in the early 90's (1990's) were interesting and fun. It's amazing what these men accomplished under the mountains here. I come from coal mining folk in the States and thought I knew a little about mining. This was so very different from the way they did the mining to the way it helped the folks around here avoid the worst of the famine. The tour is 10 euro per adult. There's a pretty little waterfall nearby if you are willing to drive on some skinny little roads. I don't give out many five stars and this is without a doubt five stars!

We enjoyed a really fantastic day together here at the folk park, met up with another family of 4,…read moreso we had a big gang of 8 walking together through the park, in pouring rain, and it was a perfect day! We had children ages 6-15 and each one thought it was fascinating, the adults, too. It went on a bit too long for me- I was so surprised how many stops there were on the tour- and I ran out of stream! So come well-rested and prepared with good walking shoes and an umbrella, if needed. Cute gift shop. Very nice café. Loved it! Highly

It's been so long since we were here last that we'd forgotten almost all of it. Maybe it's just a…read moreseries of senior moments but I'll tell you what it's superb and a great way to spend 3 or more hours. There's no down side to this place. This is a superb living park where you walk through 18th & 19th century thatched cottages, a blacksmiths forge, a school house, a Roman Catholic Church, a Meeting House, a bank, general stores, barns, log cabins, you'll board a ship (to go from Ireland to America) meet the captain and you'll meet other delightful costumed characters who demonstrate traditional crafts, tell real stories. They are very likely to share good food with you. We had pumpkin pie, a molasses based shoo fly pie, apple pie, fruit cake and other goodies. Many of the buildings were dismantled from their original places in Ireland & America and re-built here. The influential Mellon family feature (banking, oil, steel and shares in HJ Heinz & General Motors) as does the Campbell family. Both families are originally from the area so further adding to the authenticity of the park. There are 44 separate outdoor places to go visit in addition to the exhibitions inside and notably they have a very good Titanic exhibition. So a dry day is essential or at least a dry half day. There's also a very good cafe with tasty food rather than the rubbish a lot of places serve up these days. In fact if I was close by I'd go here to eat without going into the folk park.

An artistic asset to Sligo, and the North-West! There's always something going on here - informal…read moremusic afternoons, to weekend music and comedy gigs, film screenings from the Sligo Film Society to the semi-regular Sligo Flea Market. The Niland Collection (with a selection of Sligo's most famous artistic son - Jack B Yeats paintings) is now on permanent display, coupled with regular contemporary art exhibitions. The beautiful old Model school building hosts two exhibition spaces, an education room for family and children events, 'Room' - a space for artists in residence to curate smaller exhibitions, a large cinema/gig space, and sometimes the venue can be hired privately for weddings. The bright and airy atrium is a lovely place to meet and catch up with friends. During the summer there are regular tours of the gallery space, and the Niland collection.

From the owner: The Model, home of the Niland Collection is one of Ireland's leading contemporary arts centre. It…read moreis due to reopen in Spring 2010 after an extensive redevelopment phase. The extension will provide new, exemplary, artist studios, a purpose-built performance space and a new entrance from a new civic plaza. The extension will also allow for new gallery to form a complete Gallery circuit for the visitor, a new reception are and bookstore and a new destination restaurant. The award winning building is home to the impressive Niland Collection, featuring works by John and Jack B. Yeats, Estella Solomons, Paul Henry and Louis Le Broquy among others.